Monday, December 15, 2014

With the insane costs of living, renting and buying, it’s harder to come by a large kitchen with a traditional oven in modern apartments these days (trust me, I've looked). However, you don’t need a lot of fancy equipment or space to cook delicious and healthy meals for yourself and your family. Here is a selection of quick, easy and healthy meals you can make using electric cookers.

Vegetable Soups

Making soup is extremely easy and you can add as many or as few ingredients as you want to create various different results. The thickness of the soup will depend on how much water you add; if you like your soup thick, cut back on the stock. After the ingredients have finished cooking, drain the excess water and blend the contents. You can add extra flavor by adding herbs and spices such as cinnamon, black pepper, cumin and turmeric. These soups will keep you feeling full all day long and are also great winter warmers. Great recipes include: carrots and coriander; potato and link; and spicy lentils.

Dahl

This delicious Indian lentil dish can be cooked slowly in an electric cooker until the lentils are soft. You can use red or black lentils or a combination of both and add chickpeas, kidneys beans and just about anything else you want. Add plenty of turmeric, garlic, cumin and other spices to give the dish a bit of a kick and finish by adding crème fresh or coconut milk before serving.

Thai Curries

Green and red Thai curries are simple with a cooker. The process for cooking these dishes is similar to that of cooking soups, except that you add coconut milk and leave larger chunks of meat and vegetables (like mange tout and corn). Thai green and red curries with chicken can be prepared in just a few minutes and you can vary the heat of your dish with a teaspoon or two of Thai curry paste.

Whether you mix a few ingredients in a pan on the hob or get a bake going in the over, it’s easy to rustle up something healthy, filling and tasty. All you need are a few flavors that you know work well together.

Friday, November 28, 2014

The past couple of years I felt like I had nothing to be thankful for. Yeah, I know that sounds ungrateful, but it’s true. I was mad, jaded, depressed… everything sucked and I had literally given up hope. My family suffered through financial troubles and we felt like we were stuck in a place we didn’t love. The only joy we’d get would be from planning to move in the next 5 years and hopefully start our life over again. Our 5 year plan felt lightyears away and to be quite honest, I didn’t even believe it in my heart. I was too focused on the now and how heavy everything felt around me. Doing simple tasks around the house felt so difficult and I just wanted to curl up in the fetal position.

Of course there were some good things. I had an outlet with my job that brought me some happiness. We laughed at work everyday and that in itself was a form of medicine. I loved going to work because I felt like I needed it. But my husband had nothing to really get him out of his funk (completely jobless) and I could see that Wyatt was becoming affected by us. He’d often say how he wanted to move and that he hated Arizona. It surprised me so much that my then 4 year old was able to recognize that his life wasn’t very good where we were. Nothing will depress you more than seeing your kid not be as happy as they should be.

This past summer I had went home for a few days thanks to my Grandpa. It felt so good to be around my family on the east coast and Wyatt had a blast. After I went home my aunt and uncle offered to move my family and I to Philly and help us get a fresh start. At first we didn’t know how to accept such an offer and it felt so sudden, we couldn’t process it. After awhile we finally decided to go for it and we took the plunge so to speak.

2014 was a year that I thought sucked donkey balls. Josh and I would often say we hope 2015 is better, but it was just words that we never believed. Wow, 2014 has really grabbed my past shitty life by the nuts and really showed it who’s boss. This year has become one of the best things that have happened to me and I’m feeling eternally grateful. The reality of living in Philly and with a job that’s super amazeballs still feels extremely new to me. I’m constantly reminded that this life is ALL MINE and that this is how it’ll be from now on. I’m still struggling with the question of do I deserve it? Slowly and cautiously I’m accepting this new life and feeling relief for the first time in years. I can feel my anxiety lessening everyday and the pressure subsiding. I’m not all the way there yet, but I think it’s because I’ve conditioned myself to feel this crippling stress and to wallow in it. The point that I’m trying to make is that I’m a work in progress and I am so elated to see myself become better.

I am extremely thankful, finally, for the first time in a long time. I have so many people to thank and I feel like a simple “thank you” isn’t enough. The least I can do is type out this general thank you to God and the universe and just try to pay it forward as much as I can.

Friday, November 14, 2014

I gathered up all my favorite vintagey Christmas clipart from around the internet. All free to use! I thought it would be cool to have everything all in one place.

To download this in full resolution, click here. The actual download is HUGE because I wanted the clipart to all be a decent size to work with. Once you click the link it might appear that there is nothing on the screen but you're likely just looking at the white back ground of the image. Please share this on Pinterest and check out all of my other Christmas pins here.